VIERA, Fla. — Jayson Werth has played on a World Series winner. He’s played against World Series winners. He’s a true student of the game and knows the history of great teams as well as any current major leaguer.

And, it appears, he’ll stack the 2013 Nationals up against any of them.

“Has there ever been a team this complete on paper?” the veteran right fielder said today in his first appearance of the spring at Space Coast Stadium. “I’m not really a guy who looks at stuff like that. But when you look around the room, what we’ve got and where we’re at and who we’ve got, you’ve got to feel pretty good about it.”

Werth made sure to issue an all-important caveat: The Nationals haven’t played a game yet, and they still must prove themselves on the field.Read more

Sounds like Werth was prompted to say that by a reporter's question, almost like he repeated the question, and the rest of his answer isn't quite as arrogant sounding. This is from Dan Kolko's piece on MASNSports:Werth talked with reporters for over 20 minutes this afternoon, covering a wide range of topics. But one of the first things Werth discussed was how talented the Nationals are. Such comments drew a question about whether Werth had even been on a team that was as complete on paper as this Nats squad."Has there ever been a team that's this complete on paper?" Werth responded rhetorically. "I'm not really a guy that looks at stuff like that. You look around the room where we're at, who we got, I feel pretty good about it. Then people say, 'You got to stay healthy.' Well, we weren't too healthy last year, and we won as many games as we won last year. We got guys on the bench that are probably ready to play every day somewhere."Werth apparently also discussed the batting order. Sounds like he thinks he ought to hit 2nd, followed by Bryce.

Monday is a holiday. Lay off poor Drake, who played hookey on Friday. It's actually hard for kids, their father's are gone, especially spring training. Saw some sad notes. I know it's not the same as being deployed, but it's still hard.

Lay off poor Drake? Really? The kid's Dad makes more money than 99.9999% of kids in this country. He will want for nothing his whole life, and neither will his children, or his children's children probably. He flys off for holiday weekends to hang out in major league clubhouses. He showers Bryce Harper with ginger ale. No, it's not like being deployed. Not at all. Not even in the same universe.

And speaking of Las Vegas…the bookmakers have the over/under for National victories at 90. That sounds like easy money to me…I know the Braves will be tough and the Phillies aren't toast just yet…but the Nats do have a lot of games against the Marlins and the Mets. I'll take the over.

Carrying over a thread from the last post (which has nothing to do with either post) – Peric, serious question, was it really Eisenhower that got ride of our street cars or the DC govt. and of course I am thinking you were using sarcasm when you talked about them being air-conditioned. If you rode on a hot day and got a seat where the window didn't work you were literally toast when you got to Griffith Stadium.Now, back to baseball. Willing to wager one of those imaginary beers that we hit more homeruns this year that last. Will concede that LaRoche's numbers will be down but I am hoping for increases from Zimm, Werth, the catcher's spot (combining Suzuki & Ramos), and of course the wonder child. If Ian and Danny can stay about the same and LaRoche only drop to around 25 I think our power will be just fine. I am also thinking with the additional speed and on-base % of Span that we will score a lot more runs and hopefully again, score them early. This team out in front is just going to be ridiculous.Go Nats!!

I didn't read any comments but is someone really upset that LaRoche's kid is with him for a few days?? Wow, must be a slow day in negativeville. Hell, if I was a millionaire and knew how much my kid loved this team its a no-brainer. What is he 11? What a thrill for him and 222 who are you bashing, Drake, LaRoche or the fact that most ball players make lots of money?

I'm not bashing anyone. And I certainly don't think ALR makes too much money. Someone said, "lay off poor Drake," and compared the plight of a child of an MLB player, who doesn't have his Dad around for six months a year, to that of a military man (or woman) serving overseas. There's just no comparison, and no reason to feel sorry for Drake or any other child of an MLB player who makes millions of dollars a year.

sjm308,I would not concede ALR's numbers going down. If you look at the splits of the team Sept/Oct (31 games) was by far the teams best hitting month.In fact it was easily their best month. They hit 53 HR's OPS .819 next best July (29 games) 34 HR's OPS .776.So why the power out burst? and who lead the team that month in HR's? (ALR 10 HR)I think there were a few factors but but the numbers point to who got hot and the fact that only one player went into a slump. Both Harper OPS 1.043 and ALR OPS 1.057 were en fugo! Desmond had a .927 OPS, Zimmerman .892, Morse contributed with .840, Zook .837. Werth OBP.358 but had his worst month OPS .383 Espinosa had a bad month, probably injured and T. Moore barely played.Now a month does not represent a season, but it shows what this team is capable of when most of the line up hits. Ramos has more power than Zook and T. Moore could fill in if someone goes into a big slump. If the team stays healthy and gets on base ALR will rake. Unless Harper or Zimmerman clears the base every time, and I can live with that, ALR will see more fastballs and fewer shifts. He is still a streak hitter and he will go cold just as he did last year where in June his BA was .182 but if the ducks are on the pond he will drive them in, just like he did in June with 14 RBI. If the team stays relatively healthy it should be a very fun year.

"Sounds like Werth was prompted to say that by a reporter's question, almost like he repeated the question, and the rest of his answer isn't quite as arrogant sounding. This is from Dan Kolko's piece on MASNSports:"OK, now that's a very different thing indeed. Honestly, just getting that one part of the quote seems disappointingly misleading.

I always feel like the cleanup crew for a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade on this site b/c of my work schedule but:Sofa–I lhear you on the mindset of thinking we are near-perfect–whether Werth said it or not, it is to be curbed at every opportunity. So I did like how Werth inserted a burr under the team's saddle at the end with the quote, "Then you've got guys on that team in '08 that were a little more accomplished than most guys in here: Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley. So it is similar, but it's still a little bit different."Now to me, that's a leader in the Weaver/Davey fashion. Confident, bold, but never missing a chance to motivate.